Ahead of the Senedd debate on ending corridor care in Wales, NHS leaders have warned that treating patients in corridors or temporary escalation spaces is undignified, unsafe, and a symptom of wider system pressures.
They stress that banning corridor care without addressing underlying issues could worsen ambulance delays and harm patients elsewhere in the system.
Corridor care arises from challenges including issues with patient flow, increased demand from an ageing population, and fragility within the social care sector.
Currently, around 15% of hospital beds in Wales are occupied by patients who are medically fit for discharge but cannot leave due to a lack of social care packages.
NHS leaders have called for integrated solutions across health and social care, highlighting four key priorities:
- Social care reform – Long-term investment and radical changes to stabilise the sector and improve patient flow.
- Prevention and early intervention – Reducing avoidable hospital admissions through community-based services and preventative initiatives.
- Capital investment – A 10-year strategy to modernise facilities, upgrade equipment, and improve digital systems for better safety and productivity.
- Workforce planning – A clear, costed plan to meet future demand and support staff across health and social care.
Darren Hughes, Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, commented:
"NHS leaders and frontline staff work incredibly hard to keep patients safe and work on the root causes of corridor care provision, targeting flow through the system by improving patient discharge, working with local authorities to improve social care support – key in preventing demand – providing alternatives to Emergency Departments (EDs) and prioritising older patients at the ‘front door’ through increased frailty screening.
“But with rising demand and capacity issues across the breadth of the health and care system, demand inadvertently pushes back onto EDs, which are open 24/7. This means NHS staff are sometimes left with no alternative but to make difficult decisions to manage risk.
“No patient should be treated in a corridor, but banning temporary escalation spaces without fixing the root causes will only push the problem elsewhere. NHS leaders don’t want to see ‘corridor care’ replaced by (ambulance) ‘car park care’, exacerbating ambulance handover delays and slowing their response, increasing the risk of harm to patients (with possibly more serious emergencies) in communities.
“We urgently need long-term investment in social care, prevention, capital infrastructure and workforce planning to ensure the NHS can deliver safe, dignified care for everyone who needs it."
Leaders also emphasised that tackling these root causes is essential to ensure safe, dignified, and timely care for patients and to end corridor care sustainably.
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